Wrestling Ratings- WWE Survivor Series: War Games (2025)

 

Location- San Diego, California

Venue- Petco Park

Commentary- Michael Cole & Wade Barrett

Team Rhea (Rhea Ripley, Iyo Sky, Charlotte Flair, Alexa Bliss, AJ Lee) VS Team Asuka (Asuka, Nia Jax, Kairi Sane, Lash Legend, Becky Lynch)- Women’s War Games Match

Winners- Team Rhea

Rating- 7/10

Dominik Mysterio VS John Cena (Champion)- Intercontinental Championship

Winner & New Intercontinental Champion- Dominik Mysterio

Rating- 8/10

Stephanie Vaquer (Champion) VS Nikki Bella- Women’s World Championship

Winner- Stephanie Vaquer

Rating- 5/10

Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker, & Bronson Reed VS Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, & The Usos- Men’s War Games Match

Winners- Brock Lesnar, Drew McIntyre, Logan Paul, Bron Breakker, & Bronson Reed

Rating- 6/10

Overall Thoughts- I never believed Stephanie Vaquer was in any danger of losing the title. Of course, a lot of the big names in the women’s division were busy with War Games. Nikki Bella is a veteran with a good amount of name value, so she’s more than capable of filling the role of a credible challenger. Nothing extraordinary overall, but the match was just fine, and Stephanie retaining was the right move.

Cena VS Dirty Dom easily takes the spot for the best match on the card. An electric crowd, some good sneaky heel tactics from Mysterio, and all the shenanigans from Raquel, Dom, and Roxanne added to the insanity throughout the match. Predicting a winner wasn’t so easy, because I genuinely believed there was a real chance Cena walked into his final match with Gunther as the IC Champion. A fun match overall, capped off by Liv Morgan’s big return, and Dom stealing the championship away from Cena.

The women delivered the best War Games match. I’m kind of burnt out on Iyo’s annual trash can spot, but there’s no denying it still looks cool, and the live crowds want to see her jump off the top of the cage. The women’s match had a better flow to it, AJ got the best of Becky again, and I got good laugh out of AJ needing help from Rhea to pass the garbage can to Iyo. 

The men’s War Games match? Yes, the match was loaded with star power. Legitimate main event wrestlers, Wrestlemania main eventers, former world champions, and guys, who were apart of WWE’s biggest feuds for years. But this match never kicked into the high gears that I was hoping for. A lot of big names in the cage, but the match just didn’t live up to the hype.

I kind of wish WWE would move past War Games matches being a staple for Survivor Series. On the flip side of that, I guess going back to the Raw VS Smackdown matches would be the alternative. I could never get into the brand supremacy stuff, because it’s just too silly. I have a hard time buying into Raw wrestlers hating Smackdown wrestlers or vice versa. Everyone on both teams works for WWE, when it’s all said and done, so it’s hard to flip the suspension of disbelief switch. 

Show Highlights-

-Liv Morgan returns

-Dominik Mysterio wins the Intercontinental Championship

-Team Rhea wins Women’s War Games match

-Mysterious masked man attacks CM Punk, Bron Breakker scores pinfall victory over Punk to pick up the win for his team

Overall Rating- 6/10

Wrestling Ratings- WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event- December 13, 2025

 

Location- Washington, D.C.

Venue- Capital One Arena 

Hosts- Stephanie McMahon & Joe Tessitore

Commentary- Michael Cole & Wade Barrett

Cody Rhodes (Undisputed WWE Champion) VS Oba Femi (NXT Champion)- Champion VS Champion

Winner Via Disqualification- Oba Femi

Rating- 7/10

Sol Ruca (With Zaria) VS Bayley (With Lyra Valkyria)

Winner- Sol Ruca

Rating- 7/10

AJ Styles & Dragon Lee VS Je’Von Evans & Leon Slater

Winners- AJ Styles & Dragon Lee

Rating- 6/10

John Cena VS Gunther

Winner- Gunther

Rating- 9/10

Overall Thoughts- Oba Femi VS Cody Rhodes was a solid opener. I never believed Femi had a chance of winning, but Cody did a great job of selling Oba’s offense. In the end, Femi proved he’s more than capable of holding his own against the top guy in the company, and that still counts as another huge notch on his belt. 

Drew McIntyre’s interference to end the match was the right call. We’re talking about a match, where both guys couldn’t afford to lose clean. Cody is the top babyface, so you might as well go ahead and put Oba in one of the Wrestlemania main events, if the plan was for Cody to lose. Drew interferes, pours more gasoline on his feud with Cody, and Oba is upset, because there’s a chance he could’ve won.

Sol Ruca and Bayley had a strong competitive match. Lots of good back and forth action in this one. Sol squeaked out a win over a big name in the women’s division, and Bayley walks away without any real damage. She almost had Sol, but SOMEONE from NXT had to pick up a clean win. No champions or titles were involved, so this match was the perfect scenario for Sol to defeat Bayley. 

I really wish the tag team match could’ve gone longer. The fast paced action from AJ, Dragon Lee, Leon Slater, and Evans was fantastic, but I still believe this match needed more time to breathe and develop. Although, I understand why they felt the need to rush things. The match before John Cena’s retirement match is a tricky spot to be in. I’m guessing the powers that be didn’t want to take any chances on a deflated or burnt out crowd. 

John Cena rides off into the sunset! The match started out at a slow and methodical pace, favoring Gunther’s style, until Cena could find an opening to start his comeback. Considering the fact that this was Cena’s big farewell, I was expecting the match to have a more epic feel to it, but Cena’s swan song was still a strong send-off. 

John truly emptied his tank, throwing everything he had left at Gunther, but it still wasn’t enough. Gunther, the persistent and brutal villain, was just too much for him to overcome in the end. The Ring General squashed all of Cena’s spirited offensive bursts. But what’s important for me is, Cena was genuinely having fun in the ring, soaking it all in, and you can really see it with the setup for the Five Knuckle Shuffle. 

Cena tapping out to end his career? I’m fine with it. The look of relief on Cena’s face, complete with the slow and soft tap out, when Gunther had him in the sleeper hold, works for a memorable moment. Yeah, I know “NEVER GIVE UP!” is one of Cena’s bigger taglines, but John didn’t have anything left to give. Gunther relentlessly beat the crap out of him. John left it all in the ring, one last time before he walks away. 

Gunther was the perfect opponent for Cena. He’s a dastardly heel and a strong character. Gunther always comes off as someone, who’s genuinely unlikable. He’s a bully and a condescending dick, with a pompous superiority complex. Also, Gunther really needed a strong win after tapping out to Jey Uso at Wrestlemania, and the world title loss to CM Punk at Summerslam.

The post match celebration and the video package was a nice touch. It’s a fitting end for Cena to quietly walk off into the sunset. He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy, who would want a lot of hoopla with lots of pyro during a long and drawn out ceremony.

Punk and Cody giving Cena their world titles was a cool moment, but it’s hard to ignore the boos and the heckling for Triple H. I couldn’t get into Cena’s heel run. It was too forced, and they didn’t have enough time to get it right. Sure, Cena selling his soul to The Rock at Elimination Chamber was a shocking moment. But Rock completely disappearing just killed whatever they might’ve had planned in the long run. 

John Cena of all people turning heel is a monumental occurrence. It’s the kind of storyline that needs to be fleshed out, because one year with limited dates is not enough time to stuff, or compress a run that lasted twenty plus years. Too many fine details, and the idea of John Cena possibly ending his career as a bad guy just doesn’t work. 

Show Highlights-

Oba Femi holds his own against Cody Rhodes

Sol Ruca defeats Bayley

R-Truth and Joe Hendry beat up and embarrass The Miz

John Cena delivers one final salute and thanks the fans for years of support 

Overall Show Rating- 8/10

Wrestling Ratings- WWE Wrestlepalooza (2025)

Location- Indianapolis, Indiana

Venue- Gainbridge Fieldhouse

Commentators- Michael Cole, Pat McAfee, & Wade Barrett

John Cena VS Brock Lesnar

Winner- Brock Lesnar

Rating- 3/10

The Vision (Bronson Reed & Bron Breakker) VS The Usos- Special Guest Referee- LA Knight

Winners- The Vision

Rating- 5/10

Vacant Women’s World Championship- Iyo Sky VS Stephanie Vaquer

Winner & New Women’s World Champion- Stephanie Vaquer

Rating- 9/10

CM Punk & AJ Lee VS Seth Rollins & Becky Lynch

Winners- CM Punk & AJ Lee

Rating- 8/10

Undisputed WWE Championship- Cody Rhodes (Champion) VS Drew McIntyre

Winner- Cody Rhodes

Rating- 5/10

Overall Thoughts- We’re in the final stages of Cena’s retirement run….and they open the show with a glorified squash match? I just don’t understand it. They pushed Cena VS Lesnar as the marquee matchup, and this is what they decided to do? But I should’ve known something wasn’t right, when they decided to start off the show with this one.

Cena’s farewell tour was finally going in the right direction, after they abandoned that weird heel turn that just wasn’t working out at all. They were aiming for a callback to the Summerslam 2014 (Michael Cole mentioned it on commentary) match. I get that, but the big difference is, when Brock Lesnar demolished Cena in that match, it was genuinely shocking to see John Cena suffer through a decisive beating. He was manhandled, but this was just disappointing. 

It’s to the point, where you can count Cena’s remaining dates on one hand now. Lesnar has more than enough accolades under his belt at this point, and he’s Brock Freaking Lesnar! I just don’t see the need, or a sense of urgency to make him look invincible, so they can build up momentum for whatever WWE is planning to do with Brock going forward. 

A lot of questions for Paul Heyman introducing Lesnar. Was this just a one-off thing for The Beast and his advocate? Or, is Heyman working on another favor with Lesnar? Survivor Series is coming up, so maybe there’s a chance Lesnar fills the role of a mercenary for The Vision somewhere down the line, as Heyman’s secret weapon.

The tag match between The Vision and The Usos was starting to heat up, but Jey’s freak accident with the chair undoubtedly derailed the final stages of the match. LA Knight stayed true to his character as the special guest ref. Using Knight as the ref was probably the best option to go with. He’s still involved in the storyline, and Knight refusing to raise Reed’s hand was a nice touch.

AJ Lee is back! There’s no denying the match was put together and structured in a way that would benefit Lee, but I still had a blast with this one. No real signs of ring rust on AJ, the entire match was a lot of fun, and the comedy spots were hilarious. Also, Becky Lynch deserves a lot of credit for the build leading up to the match. She was fantastic, playing the annoying and pushy jerk, and the promos with Punk were pretty good. 

Iyo Sky VS Stephanie Vaquer easily takes the top spot for the best match. Sky has a seemingly endless gas tank, and she did a great job of selling the knee injury. A strong match with lots of action, while Sky and Vaquer struggled to get the upper hand on each other, complete with the right winner. Vaquer needed this more than Iyo. Stephanie’s triumphant crowning moment on the main roster was incredible, and Iyo was the right opponent. 

Drew lost again! Cody VS Drew wasn’t bad, but for a world title main event, the match severely lacked any kind of drama or believable tense moments. I never believed Cody was in any real danger of losing the title, and what’s next for Drew? Sure, McIntyre is someone, who will always have the credibility to work main event feuds as a heel, but he lost another big match here. You have to believe Drew is starting at the bottom of the ladder again, and it’ll probably be a long time before he gets anywhere near the top.

Was Wrestlepalooza a bad PLE? No, but with all the hoopla behind WWE’s big debut on ESPN, it’s safe to say Wrestlepalooza didn’t live up to the hype. Triple H’s introduction, a really good opening video package (with LOTS of pyro), and Pat McAffe joined commentary for a while. WWE obviously wanted Wrestlepalooza to be a big deal, but it’s a painfully average show. 

Wrestlepalooza would’ve been a forgettable PLE without the mixed tag and Iyo VS Stephanie. The rest of the card? I just couldn’t shake the feeling that certain matches could’ve happened on Raw or Smackdown. Crown Jewel: Perth is right around the corner. Hopefully Australia is an upgrade over this, because Wrestlepalooza was mostly a big disappointment.

Show Highlights-

-AJ Lee returns to the ring, submits Becky Lynch for the win

-The Undertaker announces Stephanie McMahon is the first inductee for 2026 WWE Hall Of Fame

-Stephanie Vaquer wins Women’s World Championship

-Cody Rhodes retains against Drew McIntyre

Rating- 5/10